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Solar Energy in the Sunshine State: FPL Leads the Way

April 10, 2021

The post Solar Energy in the Sunshine State: FPL Leads the Way appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Florida is known as “The Sunshine State,” so it’s no surprise that solar energy is growing rampantly across the state. Among the utilities adding solar resources to their energy mixes is Florida Power and Light Co. (FPL).

FPL claims to be the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida. FPL—a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy—says it operates “one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S.”

“We are big fans of solar energy, and we’ve been working to advance solar in the state for more than a decade,” Jill Dvareckas, senior director of development with FPL, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “We currently have 37 solar energy centers in operation, with seven more under construction, which makes FPL the largest producer of solar power in Florida.”…

Understanding Energy Crises of the 1970s and Avoiding Problems Today

March 29, 2021

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If you were alive and living in the U.S. during the 1970s, you probably remember waiting in long lines to fill your car with fuel. Yet, gasoline wasn’t the only item in short supply during the “Me Decade”—natural gas was seemingly running out and electricity demand was growing so much that new power plants were going up all over the country.

“I would argue, and I think a lot of historians would agree with me, that the 1970s was the most important decade in U.S. energy history, and I say that because of the gasoline interruptions. We had three big crises in the Middle East that reduced our supplies of oil, and that got so bad that at one point, in some states, less than 50% of the stations had any gasoline to sell at all,” Jay Hakes, author of the forthcoming book Energy Crises: Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Hard Choices in the 1970s, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.…

Is It Safe to Invest in Mexican Energy Projects?

March 19, 2021

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In late 2013, Mexico embarked on a path to transform its energy markets. Then-President Enrique Peña-Nieto oversaw constitutional reforms that ended state-run monopolies, and opened Mexico’s power market to competition and investment from foreign and private companies.

By most accounts, the policies were highly effective in spurring investments in renewable energy and efficient natural gas-fired power projects. A great deal of money has been funneled into Mexico by investors from as many as 45 countries since the law was enacted.

“The result of that was dramatically successful. I mean, you have millions and millions of dollars that were sunk into the power sector bringing in modern equipment, environmentally friendly, because there were a lot of renewable projects that went online. You see how the percentage of renewables changed in the last 10 years—you can see that it has been successful,” Roberto Aguirre Luzi, a partner with King & Spalding, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.…

The POWER Interview: Climate Change and Renewable Energy in 2021

January 31, 2021

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The post The POWER Interview: Climate Change and Renewable Energy in 2021 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

With the start of a new year comes new year resolutions, new campaigns, new administrations, new policy goals, and new initiatives. To kick off 2021, POWER talked with Jens Wolf, vice president and general manager of Europe at Enviva, a renewable energy company and the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets.

Wolf has more than 20 years of experience working across the value chain within the power, heat, and biomass industries, and has expertise in renewable energy, sustainability, and new market development. From his office in the UK, he works with customers, regulators, policy-makers and external stakeholders to grow his company’s market and customer footprint, and expand the use of its sustainable wood biomass product across Europe.

Wolf previously was the commercial director for Drax, where he was responsible for the development, logistics, trading, and sourcing of biomass on behalf of the company. Prior…